It is time to admit the obvious: Valley View Center — the mall that should not exist anymore, the mall the mayor recently called an "embarrassment" — is not going to come down in the foreseeable future. We are stuck, until God knows when, staring at the carcass at Preston Road and LBJ Freeway whose remains should have been carted off at least two years years ago.

Even Lee Kleinman, the City Council member who once called the mere sight of the mall "gut-wrenching," can now only shrug at the obvious. I asked Thursday if he was resigned to the fact Valley View isn't going anywhere any time soon. After a long sigh ...

A hand-in-glove relationship between the mall's owner and City Hall is now one of clenched fists, as tax deals have given way to a lawsuit over code violations. And now, there is this new twist in the colossal cluster: The owners of The Mall That Will Not Die owe Dallas City Hall more than $225,000 in unpaid water bills.

This bright promise of shiny new high-rises and a giant city park (with millions in matching bond dollars!) or maybe Amazon (as if) on what is arguably some of the most valuable real estate in this city has become a dark comedy. It's the laugh that chokes.

According to Dallas Water Utilities, owner Beck Ventures, whose CEO and president is Scott Beck, began sending partial payments in August 2016, then cut off the flow of dollars altogether in October 2017 and from February to September of this year. DWU's most recent invoice said Beck owed $236,253 by Oct. 25. The city instead received around $9,600.

They're taking down the old Sangers brick by brick since Scott Beck won't let demo crews on the Valley View site.

(Nathan Hunsinger/Staff Photographer)

If you need a place to shoot your zombie-mall movie, I know just the spot!

(Nathan Hunsinger/Staff Photographer)

Valley View in 1977. When it was new and people went there.

(Tom Dillard/Staff photographer)

The city attorney's office did not know of this outstanding debt when it filed suit against Beck Ventures in September, alleging code and fire-safety violations, including "collapse hazards." It does now — and can do little about it, except, perhaps, add the claim to the current lawsuit or place a lien on the mall.

"They owe the money and should do the right thing and pay it," said Chhunny Chhean, the executive assistant city attorney who filed the suit. "It's almost a quarter of a million dollars. It's incredible."

It's also par for the course at Valley View.

The old Sangers, whose owners EF Properties were also hit with a code suit by the city in September, is coming down — slowly, maybe by year's end. Chhean said it's taking forever because the demo crew is having to do the vanishing by hand, since Beck won't let them onto the Valley View property.

"We are unsure of the Becks' plans at this point," said Enthoven, who can and probably will develop his property even if Valley View remains. "We are taking every measure we can not to damage the iconic Valley View mall as we take the remains of our building down brick by brick."

I wish I could tell you if and when the mall will be torn down. But I cannot.

Courtney Pogue, Dallas' director of economic development, said Friday that Beck Ventures submitted a new tax increment financing application in October 2017, "but that application did not result in a new development agreement." Said Pogue via email, "There has been no activity in 2018 in regards to a new TIF request."

James Harris, the attorney now representing Scott Beck, said Thursday that his firm does not comment on ongoing litigation. He said "maybe Scott will talk to you." Ross Golman at SHOP Companies, which is handling leasing at Dallas Midtown, confirmed via email that "we are still working with the Beck family on their redevelopment plans." But, he added, "regarding any updates you will need to direct your questions directly to Scott Beck."

And I have tried, repeatedly — in September, when the city filed its lawsuit and he gave me a "no comment," and on Thursday, when I called both cellphones and left a message. He texted two hours later, at 5:17 p.m.: "Did you call earlier?" I immediately responded that I was writing about the mall — again — and that I wanted to know about the unpaid water bill and the plans for Valley View. I never did hear back.

Nery Hernandez, owner of Rincon Hispano, sees maybe 50, 60 customers a day during the week, but many more during blockbuster-movie opening weekends.

(Nathan Hunsinger/Staff Photographer)

This was Valley View Thursday afternoon. What a magical place?

(Nathan Hunsinger/Staff Photographer)

A statue of a soldier sits in one of the open hallways of a dimly lit Valley View Center.

(Nathan Hunsinger/Staff Photographer)

Not even the business owners in the mall know what's happening. Yeah, that's right: There is a beating heart in the dead mall — a strip of storefronts between the only open door, off Preston Road, and the top-floor, discount AMC multiplex that expects to remain open "for the foreseeable future," corporate spokesman Ryan Noonan said Thursday.

There's a Colter's BBQ, a Taekwondo school, a shop selling Mexican candies and drinks, a Vivri weight-loss outpost, a kosher-pizza place and, as of this week, a maker of "lickable liquors" running a research-and-development kitchen in the old Wetzel's Pretzels spot. Their owners all said the same thing Thursday: They have no idea how long the mall will last, but they are grateful for the home, however temporary.

"It's super-affordable — I mean, for us, it's a no-brainer," said DizziBrands' 45-year-old co-founder David Taylor, who grew up not far from Valley View. His place isn't a retail storefront; sorry, but he sells the high-proof ice cream only to restaurants, hotels, music fests.

"This is a place so I play," he said. "I'm hoping it stays open as long as it can."

So do Nery Hernandez, 61, and her husband, Raul Gutierrez, 63, who run the Taekwondo studio and mercado. They came to Valley View when everyone else was leaving and say they wouldn't be able to run their storefronts outside the mall's walls. Business depends on the movie theater: Hernandez said she sees maybe 50, 60 customers during the week. But on blockbuster-movie weekends, they swarm.

"And so many of them say, 'I remember this mall!' with such a warm feeling," said Hernandez, a native of Mexico. "They say, 'I remember 20 years ago when this was a beautiful mall.' It still is!"